Pugwash magazine

Being Self-Sufficient

Fifty years of hard work and a pension - is your future mapped out already? It needn't be so, argues James Ryder.

Now that I’ve started my final year - I am frequently asked what ‘job’ i want to do after Uni.

Everyone seems to be asking that at the moment, now that I’ve started my final year.

‘Job,’ I say, ‘Why would I want one of those?’

Let me explain. This might not be half as crazy as it first sounds.

Our generation went to school, worked hard, reached university, will earn a degree, find a good job, and make lots of money. Most of this will be spent on useless lifestyle accessories you don’t need. Then, when you reach about 70ish (who knows what the retirement age for us will be) you too will become of no more use and will be effectively thrown away and replaced by a newer, younger model. But don’t worry; you’ll have a small pension, if you’re lucky.

What’s the alternative?

Well, if you look at this problem historically it could be noted that this disposable society is a reasonably new phenomenon. If you were to mention self-sufficiency to your grandparents they will probably only see it as a new term assigned to an old tradition. It’s something human beings have been doing with a reasonable level of success for thousands of years – living in unison with the natural world that surrounds them. Why can’t we continue to do this? If we could revert to being willing to work with nature rather than against it then we will see that it provides more than enough for us to survive.

The average income, ignoring rent, is spent on paying for three things: food, drink and bills. Let’s start with utility bills. Solar and wind power can provide you electricity, your water can come from a well and your heat from the only truly renewable energy source, wood.

With the rise of public interest in organic and Fair Trade products, everyone seems to have far more concern for where their food has come from and who has been trampled on to get it to their table. Surely the only way to truly guarantee its quality, both from a taste and nutrient point of view and also from an ethical one is to grow the food yourself.

Even the smallest of city gardens can be effectively used to grow the vegetables you need, and all the old teabags and eggshells and bits of rotting food matter that rot in your bin can be used to make compost to aid plant growth. If you have more space then keep chickens, they will give you eggs and also their meat. If you have even more space then you could even have pigs or a cow. This would provide you with milk butter and cheese, not to mention steak. Using it for games of bucking bronco might be unwise, no matter how tempting it would seem.

Now that we have covered bills and food, let’s move to an area far more relevant to the average student life - alcohol. Did you know that instead of buying wine from a shop you can cheaply and easily produce it yourself? Wine can be made from nearly any berry you can think of with the addition of sugar yeast and water. A couple of apple trees in your garden will produce cider with only the minimum of effort and a little patience, and it’ll taste better than Magners.

These are just a couple of examples but with some thought and a bit of research (The New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency by John Seymour is a good place to start) these same principles can be applied to every aspect of your life. You probably won’t have time to hold down an actual 9 till 5 job, but then why would you need one when you’re producing most of what you need to survive yourself.

It’d be hard work, far harder than any day job but you will sleep well at night, not only from the exhaustion of the day’s activities but from a sense that you haven’t thrown anything or anyone away that day.

/James Ryder